This 2nd day of October, 2001, upon consideration of the submissions of the parties, it appears to this Court that:
1. Pursuant to the Court's having entered judgment of $60,000 following a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiffs, Plaintiffs have submitted a Bill of Costs relating to trial. Plaintiffs seek costs for three expert witness fees:
Super. Ct. Civ.R. 54
Two other post-trial motions were filed in this case. Plaintiffs filed a Motion for a New Trial, which this court has denied. Porter v. Murphy, Del. Super., C.A. No. 99C-08-258, Cooch, J. (October 2, 2001) (Mem. Op.). Defendants filed a "Motion for Remittitur, or, in the Alternative, for a New Trial," which this Court has denied. Porter v. Murphy, Del. Super., C.A. No. 99C-08-258, Cooch, J. (October 2, 2001) (ORDER).
$3,250 for Theodore Michell, M.D.; $2,000 for Barry Bakst, D.O.; and $900 for Constance V. Dancu, Ph.D. Plaintiffs also seek court costs of $225, and $25 for the cost of the jury list. Finally, Plaintiffs seek $166 as the cost for transcription of the deposition of Virginia Porter, which was used at trial to impeach the witness.
2. Defendants contest the awarding of costs relating to Dr. Dancu because they maintain that she was primarily called as a wrongful death witness; the jury found in favor of Defendants on that issue. Defendants dispute the amount of costs relating to the testimony of Drs. Michell and Bakst; Defendants claim that neither doctor testified for more than an hour, and that a reasonable charge for both physicians' testimony would be around $1,000. Defendants also believe the cost of the jury list to be unrecoverable. Finally, Defendants challenge awarding the cost of transcribing Virginia Porter's deposition testimony.
3. The Court, in its discretion, finds that neither the costs associated with the jury list ($25) nor the deposition of Virginia Porter ($166) are recoverable by Plaintiffs. Super. Ct. Civ.R. 54(f); see Nygaard v. Lucchesi, Del. Super., 654 A.2d 410 (1994) (stating that recovery of jury list costs is discretionary and that deposition transcription costs are recoverable only when the transcription is introduced into evidence). The Court finds the expert witness costs requested for the trial testimony of Drs. Michell and Bakst to be excessive. Each doctor testified at trial for approximately one hour. The Court finds, in its discretion, $2,600 to be appropriate for the testimony of both doctors ($1,300 each).
4. Dr. Dancu, although primarily testifying as a wrongful death witness for Plaintiffs, also provided testimony relevant to the jury's determination of the pain and suffering of the decedent. Accordingly, the cost of Dr. Dancu's testimony is recoverable. The Court thus awards Plaintiffs $900 for that cost. For the foregoing reasons, the Court hereby grants Plaintiffs $3,500 for the expert witness fees of Drs. Michell, Bakst, and Dancu, to be taxed against Defendants. The award is broken down as follows:
Trial testimony of Theodore Michell, M.D. $1,300 Trial testimony of Barry L. Bakst, D.O. $1,300 Trial testimony of Constance V. Dancu, Ph.D. $900 ------ $3,500
IT IS SO ORDERED.